Trama

Robin tries to get Barney's "Playbook" out of jealousy over his new girlfriend, Marshall catches his mom having sex with Lily's dad, and Ted tries to get everything back that was borrowed from him and never returned.

Ted, Marshall and Lily are happy for Barney now that he has started dating Robin's co-worker, Patrice. Despite Patrice not being an obvious match for Barney as she is the most caring person in the world, they believe his attraction to her is an over-correction from previously dating Quinn, who he did not trust. The one person not happy for Barney is Robin, who, despite stating that she is no longer in love with Barney herself, doesn't understand Barney and Patrice's pairing. Robin believes that if she can get a hold of Barney's playbook and show it to Patrice, Patrice in turn will dump Barney for seeing who he really is. Meanwhile, Marshall's mother is coming for a visit. Lily doesn't want Judy to stay with them, until they bond over a confession that Judy makes to Lily that Lily would like to help her with and that Judy doesn't want Marshall to know about yet: that she is ready to move on after Marvin's death and start dating. A further action by Judy may make Lily change her mind about Judy's confession. Both Robin's task and the situation at the Eriksen household place Ted in the middle, he who only wants to recover the many items that his friends have borrowed from him over the years but have never knowingly returned.—Huggo

Robin, Marshall, Lily, and Ted are trapped in different closets. Future Ted narrates how things came to be.

A week earlier at MacLaren's, Marshall and Lily tell Ted and Robin that Marshall's mother Judy is staying at their apartment. Judy later tells Lily that having gotten over the death of her husband, she is finally ready to date again. Lily advises her to give some air to the "girls", whom Judy refers to as the "Minnesota Twins". However, to Marshall's horror, she hooks up with Lily's father Mickey. Disgusted at the sight, Marshall seeks refuge in a closet.

Noting Robin's frustrations over Patrice and Barney dating, the gang claims that Barney has "over-corrected" (going for the direct opposite of someone they broke up with). Barney dated Quinn, a stripper he never trusted, so now he is over correcting with the warm and trusting Patrice. Ted broke up with Victoria and dated an imprisoned convict for a while. Robin says that Barney is just using Patrice to compensate for not trying to pursue her. Still in love with Barney, she tries to convince Patrice of his real intentions (She says that Barney has a book of plays that he uses to seduce women), but when it fails, she breaks into his apartment to steal a copy of the Playbook and show it to her to reveal Barney's true side to Patrice. While trying to find it, she scrambles to hide in Barney's bedroom closet just as he arrives home. Desperate to slip out, she calls up Ted and asks him to distract Barney long enough for her to escape.

Ted, who is already angry at the gang for failing to return anything they borrowed from him over the years (like his Ohio Chamber of Commerce mini cooler, vote for Ted hoodie from when he ran for class President in High school, DVD of Weekend at Bernie's, and his red cowboy boots), reluctantly helps out as Robin finally uncovers the Playbook. Robin lures in Ted by saying that his red cowboy boots are in Barney's closet. When Barney does return to the apartment to wait for Patrice in setting up a Christmas tree (with Ted's ornaments), Ted also has to hide in a closet near the kitchen. Robin calls up Lily for help only to discover she is in a nearby closet; Lily needed a place to safely use her breast pumps after discovering that her father tried it out on himself. Plus, Barney has a huge TV and cable which has all the latest shows.

Robin leaves the Playbook on the bed for Patrice to see. While Patrice and Barney argue at the terrace, Robin, Lily, and Ted hide in another closet - just in time to see Barney confess to Patrice that he wants to change, starting by burning the Playbook. When they leave, Ted gets back his red cowboy boots and a label maker. He also declares to never again lend the gang anything because they do not respect him.

Lily returns to the apartment, only to vomit after learning from Marshall about their parents hooking up (She knew that Judy was hooking up with a man, but she had no clue that she hooked up with Mickey). Barney later consoles them at the bar, saying that people can change.

Still not convinced about Barney and Patrice, Robin asks Marshall, Lily, and Ted to hold an intervention for Barney - but the three hold it instead for her. Lily and Marshall tell Mickey and Judy that it's okay for them to date, but when the parents admit just wanting to have sex, Marshall and Lily throw up into Ted's mini cooler.